UPLAND SHOOTING. 
59 
utmost expedition. As you have made no enquiry of me con¬ 
cerning the ornithological character of these birds, I have not 
mentioned it, premising that you are already perfectly acquaint¬ 
ed with their classification and description. In a short memoir, 
written in 1803, and printed in the eighth volume of the Medica 
Repository , I ventured an opinion as to the genus and spectes. 
Whether I was correct is a technical matter, which I leave you 
to adjust. I am well aware that European accounts of our pro¬ 
ductions are often erroneous, and require revision and amend¬ 
ment. This you must perform. For me it remains to repeat 
my joy at the opportunity your invitation has afforded me to 
contribute somewhat to your elegant work, and at the same 
time to assure you of my earnest hope that you may be favored 
with ample means to complete it. 
“ 4 Samuel L. Mitchill.’ ” 
44 Duly sensible of the honor of the foregoing communication, 
and grateful for the good wishes with which it is concluded, I 
shall now, in further elucidation of the subject, subjoin a few 
particulars, properly belonging to my own department. 
44 It is somewhat extraordinary that the European naturalists, 
in their various accounts of our different species of Grouse, should 
have said little or nothing of the one now before us, which in its 
voice, manners, and peculiarity of plumage, is the most singular, 
and in its flesh the most excellent of all those of its tribe, that 
inhabit the territory of the United States. It seems to have es¬ 
caped Catesby, during his residence and different tours through 
this country, and it was not till more than twenty years after his 
return to England, viz., 1743, that he first saw some of these 
birds, as he informs us, at Cheswick, the seat of the Earl of 
Wilmington. His lordship said they came from America ; but 
from what particular part could not tell. Buffon has confounded 
it with the Ruffed Grouse, the Common Partridge of New 
England, or Pheasant of Pennsylvania, (Tetrao XJmbellus.) 
Edwards and Pennant have, however, discovered that it is a 
different species, but have said little of its note, of its flesh or 
